The Pierce’s Holiday 2021 Letter
Jerry and Barbara Pierce wish you a happy, healthy, holiday season and a great 2022!
(Well at least a somewhat more normal than 2020 and 2021!)
The new normal of how to live in a pandemic seems to continue evolving. New skills involve taking long daily walks, baking sourdough bread and all things sour dough, cleaning closets, and creating zoom visits with friends and relatives. Some things have improved from 2020, but it still feels different than before Covid. Who would have thought that a mask could be a fashion statement or a political statement or that we would need more than one of them! We, like many of you, we are muddling through and looking forward to better days.
Really? ANOTHER fresh loaf of sourdough bread?
Nancy Radcliffe, Moon Lim, Chu Chang, Barbara & Jerry (in Yosemite)
Barbara and Apollo on the Greenbelt in Boise
This last year our time has been split between (1) Redwood City 63% (2) Boise 35% and (3) Long Beach 2%. Well that’s not exactly true for Jerry – he spent 8% of the time off-the-grid and spent more time in RWC to do some home remodeling, while Barbara was more in Boise and Redwood City. Those numbers will change going forward this year though – read on!
Our visits to Boise became a necessary covid adaptation where Barbara could be adopted into the Koenig-pod assisting with pick-up after the school pods, doing after-school adventures, and creating a crazy lego-world in the living room of our condo.
Strawberry picking in Boise
Fresh winter snow from our condo’s upstairs porch
Back in Redwood City, the status was code red and we didn’t really meet with anyone not in our small family, so this expanded Barbara’s world tremendously! And besides cocktail parties via zoom were all the rage, no one knew where anyone really was!
In addition to helping the “little” ones (not so little anymore), Barbara is chairperson of the effort to add a “Carriage House” to the County History Museum. Lots of architect plans are all over the house with zoom presentations galore for various interested groups and reaching out to help get funding — it’s an $11M+ project! She also continues serving on BAWSCA – Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency as our state continues in a multi year drought.
Jerry got in four wonderful backpacking hikes! (To see his photos, check out his jerrypierce.org website – they are stunning [comment provided by Barbara].) He also did some remodeling in his home office and made room to display his father’s art. Photography is still a big part of all the rowing and hiking adventures that he does. He continues to work on digital cinema, but the pandemic changed the priorities for the industry – time to re-open and hunker down.
The Art Room at home
It is a pandemic, after all, so we became hyper focused on the critters in our backyard, setting up bird feeders, battling the squirrels for dominance and eventually set up a camera in the birdhouse and watched “Ruth” raise 6 little Oak Titmouse babies from eggs to flight. Fun to watch! Who knew that bird parents up-ended babies to pull poop that looked like cotton from their bald butts and flew it out of the nest!?!
Ruth with her 6 hungry babies
The TAKEOFF from the birdhouse
Mom and Baby
One of the “birds of prey” that enjoy our backyard and the opportunity to take a bath!
We did not go on any major sightseeing trips this year, though there were MANY drives to Boise and more recently Long Beach. The pandemic was not the time to get out and cross international borders. Maybe next year? Maybe 2023? Let’s hope so! We did get in one short trip to Vancouver to visit Jerry’s sister. Lots of covid testing needed to get in/out of Canada!
If not sightseeing, what have we been doing? Well we are working on how to increase the amount of time we spend in Long Beach (only 2% – that’s just not right!). So we spent the year looking at listings for condos in LB – and found one! We purchased a vintage (1974) fixer-upper condo not too far from the beach and shopping centers south of Long Beach city center – across the water from the rowing club in Long Beach. We’re looking forward to spending more time with Amanda, Melissa and Waverly and pretending to be on vacation!
Our condo – it will need lots of love to make it right!
The complex for our Long Beach Condo
Amanda and Melissa’s son, Waverly is now three years old. He is a lively character, with a winning smile and has a vocabulary that just won’t stop. “I think not,” was a recent reply to Barbara’s suggestion that the leave some of his toys at the condo! It is clear he is good at soccer (thanks to Melissa). They added a new roof (with insulation) to their lovely home and have moved Waverly into the next level of nursery school-daycare – necessary after he turned 3.
The excitement of trucks on the beach!
Melissa and “The Waves”
Amanda continues juggling her work schedule to enjoy Waverly and get things done! Melissa continues her work as a vet tech and has specialized in MRI for the animals and commutes to work on her motorcycle often. They managed to get out of town for a quick weekend away in Palm Springs and also a trek to Boise to visit Andrea and the rest of the family.
Mel continues to be active in beach football while Amanda’s been getting back into yoga!
Waverly is getting a great Southern California education by going to museums and cultural events. Sometimes a bit more rushed than the adults would like!
Andrea and Martin continue to do well in Boise. Despite Covid Andrea, Miles, Analiese and another family went on a two week trip to Yellowstone, the black hills and more! Martin also got time away and spent a week fishing with friends in the Montana wilderness.
Due to Covid, teachers were being moved to different schools in Boise and Andrea was moved. Now she is teaching at her LOCAL SCHOOL!! The same school that Analiese and Miles attend! Walking distance! It’s really wonderful! She is teaching 3rd grade and is loving it.
Martin shifted to work at the Nampa Idaho fish and game office as the old building was being demolished and a new office took its space. Well the new office (right across the street from our condo) is done! He will be returning to working a mile from home (biking distance).
Martin and Miles took “GEEP” out fishing!
Miles taekwondo
Apollo is the newest addition to the family. As smart as he looks. He worships Andrea.
Analiese and Andrea
Amanda and Waverly came to Analiese’s birthday party (and we got in some GREAT swimming)
In the covid front, the Koenig family is our health leader. Martin had it in July 2020 with Analiese testing positive. In October 2021, Andrea came down with a breakthrough case (she was fully vaccinated), then Miles and Analiese had symptoms and tested positive (again). Damn those germs! Happily after a 20+ day quarantine, and a miserable time, they returned to school and semi-normal life. Analiese (6+ years) is a budding gymnast and artist and Miles (9+ years) is a yellow-belt taekwondo enthusiast and voracious reader. Both are healthy and happy.
As usual, we wish you all health, time enough to do the things you wish, and money enough to afford them. Until we’re out of this covid business, feel free to ask us to zoom. Hopefully later we can invite you to come by and see us if you are every in our area! We would love to visit!
Barbara & Jerry Pierce
Our Emails are: Jerry: jerry@jerrypierce.org; Barbara: barbara@barbarapierce.org Andrea: andrea@jerrypierce.org; Amanda: amandaapierce@gmail.com